


Day 14 - No, And That's Final

by ScullyLovesQueequeg



Series: Fictober 2019 [12]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Complete, Ficlet, Gen, Post-Episode: s04e13 Never Again, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2021-01-16 01:21:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21262757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScullyLovesQueequeg/pseuds/ScullyLovesQueequeg
Summary: Mulder & Scully have a spat after the "incident" with Ed Jerse.





	1. Day 14 - No, And That's Final

The first thing he did when the plane touched down in DC, was head to the hospital. He was worried. They hadn’t told him much, just that Scully was in the hospital.

It could not have been terribly serious, since the hospital called him, and not her mother, but he was still worried, still concerned for his partner. That was until he found out what happened.

“So, let me get this straight,” Mulder said, pacing the room. Scully watched him from where she lay in bed, but his tone told her that this wasn’t going to be a tearful reunion. “You ditched the case to go meet with this guy?”

“I didn’t ditch anything, Mulder, there was no case. Just some cockamamie story that was ripped from a show you probably saw when you were high in college,” Scully said, sitting up a little. She knew he would react like this.

“That information was good, you cost me the case, and all you have to show for it is a shitty tattoo,” Mulder remarked, and Scully knew it was a mistake to call him.

“Alright Mulder, thank you for coming,” Scully said, laying down. Mulder stopped and looked over. “Turn off the light on your way out.”

“You’re kicking me out? I just–I was worried, I–I cut my vacation short to come back because I heard you were hurt. I can’t stay?” Mulder asked, his tone obviously hurt.

_He really doesn’t get it._

Scully turned over in bed so that she was neither facing the door or able to see Mulder.

“No, and that’s final. Go home, Mulder. I’ll see you on Monday.”


	2. Day 15 - It's Always You, Mulder. Only You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scully reveals how she feels about working with Mulder.

On Scully’s first day back in the office, Mulder gave her shit. His attitude was almost unbearable, and the tension was thick enough to cut, like a stubborn piece of cheese on a chopping block. When she could get the knife going, the pieces were uneven. She needed a sharper knife.

“Mulder, what the fuck is your problem?”

It was at the end of the day, and even though Scully rarely if ever, swore at him, she did it this time. She was angry, she was tired, her body was sore, and her heart was broken.

“I’m… angry at you,” He finally said, turning to face her from where he was at the computer in the office. Scully stood on the other side of the computer, just staring at Mulder hopelessly.

“But… why? I don’t understand what else I did wrong. I don’t know why you’ve been treating me so poorly…” Her voice was filled with genuine hurt, and she watched as Mulder’s expression softened. He glanced away from her, but the conflict between wanting to comfort her and wanting to be angry was clear.

“I… you made me cut my vacation short and when I came to see you, you kicked me out,” Mulder said, his voice bordering on a whine.

“I didn’t make you do anything. You didn’t have to come to the hospital.”

“The hospital called me. I thought it was an emergency. I know I don’t have to go, but I wanted to go to make sure you were okay,” Mulder said, his tone suggesting this should have been obvious.

“I kicked you out because you were being rude. You said my tattoo was shitty, but you haven’t even seen it.”

“It can’t have been that great if you got it after meeting that asswipe who tried killing you,” Mulder spat. The venom in his voice was clear—he wasn’t a fan of Ed Jerse.

“At least Ed doesn’t treat me like a little child! I’d rather him than you right now.”’

Mulder stared at her, his anger pushing against his skin, and trying to bleed out over the floor. He didn’t want to think about Scully with some other man.

“Sure,” Mulder said, feeling a prickle of pain that started in his gut and radiated out. He let out a shaky sigh through his nostrils and continued, “I’m sorry.”

And just like that, Mulder grabbed his coat and left. Scully watched in astonishment. She expected a fight. She was ready to argue, to yell, to tell Mulder to go to hell, but as suddenly as it had begun, he folded.

The next day, Mulder did not give her shit. He did not treat her badly, and he did not acknowledge what happened the day before. When Scully pushed back, he folded.

“Mulder, I don’t think that there’s a case here,” Scully said, looking over the folder as Mulder flipped through the projector’s slides. When she glanced up, she saw that Mulder had shut off the projector and was putting the things away.

“Mulder…?”

“If you don’t see anything then what is the point? You’re probably right,” Mulder said, putting the slides and then the projector away. Scully felt a pang of guilt but said nothing. It was only when Mulder glanced at the clock and then headed to grab his coat that she spoke up.

“Where are you going?”

“To lunch. I have to meet someone afterward, and then get started on some research before flying out tomorrow for Tennessee,” He explained.

“We’re going to Tennessee?” Scully asked, and Mulder smiled.

“No, _I’m_ going. You said you didn’t see anything, so… it’s just me going. I’m not a doctor so… I’ll have to do research on what I’m looking for and hope they have a pathologist that’s willing to help.”

“What about me?” Scully asked, a little confused and taken back.

“What about you? You’re an adult, you can do whatever you want. I have work to do, so I’ll see you later.”

The next day, Mulder didn’t come into the office. Scully wasn’t sure what to do with herself given that Mulder wasn’t there, so she started looking into the copy of the case file Mulder left behind. A few times, Scully expected Mulder to come through the door, but he didn’t. But when the phone rang, she snatched it up quick.

“Mulder, I’m so—“

“This is Agent Forsythe, is Agent Mulder there?”

Scully sighed inwardly. _Of course it wasn’t him._

“Uh, no, he’s not in right now. Can I help you? I’m his partner, Agent Scully,” She said.

“Well, Agent Mulder had a body sent to our lab in the regional office to have an autopsy performed, with a note to get it done today but we don’t work like that and there’s a list of more important things we need to get done. So tell him that he has to wait, like everyone else,” The agent said. As he spoke, Scully gathered her things.

“And where is the body now? I can do the autopsy,” She piped up. “Have them send it to the lab here.”

* * *

“Agent Mulder? The lab results from the autopsy came back,” The sheriff said, walking into the waiting area Mulder was loitering in. Mulder glanced over and wiped his mouth to rid himself of the breadcrumbs from his sandwich.

“Oh good,” He said, walking over to the sheriff with his sandwich in hand. “Are they faxing it?”

“Nope, they sent someone to bring it to you. Aren’t you lucky,” The sheriff said, leading Mulder to the reception area.

“Scully, what are you doing here?” Mulder asked when he saw that she was standing around with the lab results. She glanced over and gave him a small smile.

“My job. No one at the regional office had the time so I asked them to send the body to DC, and… here I am with the results,” She said, walking over to him and looking up. Mulder gave her a half-smile, still hurt, but relieved to see her.

“It’s good to have you here,” He said, trading the sandwich for the lab report. Scully wanted to laugh, but things were still touch and go between them. Glancing over at the sheriff who was watching them, she lead Mulder outside of the building.

“Mulder, I… I’m sorry about what I said, about how I would rather have Ed than deal with you. I just…”

“You don’t have to apologize, I get it. I know how big of a pain in the ass I can be. I’m sorry for everything, I was just upset.” Mulder said, but Scully touched his arm gently, causing Mulder to look at her.

“You don’t boss me around. I️… you’re probably one of the few people that respects me and the things I do. Thank you. I’m sorry about what I said. It wasn’t true… if I had a choice… to do everything all over again… I would choose you, every time. It’s always you, Mulder. Only you.”


End file.
